August 14, 2016

Other ways to start engines

JUST A FEW days ago I overheard a cruising sailor bemoaning the fact that
he could not start his very expensive diesel motor because his comparatively
cheap starter motor had failed. It reminded me of a column I wrote several years
ago pointing out that cruising sailboats are rarely pure sailboats these days. There
are very few that do not carry engines of one sort or another. The reason for
this is that, even if you normally keep your boat on a mooring, sooner or later
you’re going to have to maneuver in a harbor or marina, and small-boat harbors
and marinas have become so congested that most are not navigable under sail in
anything much over 20 feet in length.

It is
actually possible to maneuver a boat in a crowded harbor by warping and
kedging, or even sculling, as sailors have done for centuries, but we have
either lost the skill or the will, and certainly the patience, so we now find
ourselves far too dependent on the engine to get us out to where we can use the
wind to sail.

And to get the
engine started in the first place, too many of us are dependent on the electric
starter motor. It would be a great relief if we could start our engines by
hand, instead of having to rely on electricity, and indeed a few inboard
diesels can be started by hand, but
they are necessarily of low horsepower and fit only for small yachts.

Now, there are
other ways to start engines. One way is to use a small hand pump to pressurize
a tank of air that will spin the engine vigorously for a couple of minutes.
Think what a blessing that could be when your battery is flat or your solenoid
has passed on to its final resting place. There are clockwork engine starters,
too, that you can wind up slowly and easily before releasing them to spin the
motor over.

But these
mechanically simple starting aids are not common and they are therefore
expensive, so the great majority of sailors are stuck with electric starter
motors. They are obviously not ideal for boats, but because most boat engines
are derived from the ones landlubbers build in huge numbers for their cars,
tractors, and generators, we are stuck with their method of starting them.

The one thing
you can say for electric starters is that they don’t draw much energy from your
battery. Surprisingly little, in fact, if the engine is working properly. For
example, starting a medium-sized diesel will draw about 4,800 watts. That
sounds like a lot, and it is, but even if you crank away for 20 seconds you’re
taking only 2.5 amp-hours from your 12-volt battery. That’s about half of what
a dedicated CD player would consume if it were running 4 hours a day. And even with
a modest 30-amp charge, your alternator will replace that energy in less than
10 minutes.

Nevertheless,
this is not the best way to start a marine engine. Salt water and electricity
don’t get on well together, and most of us could well do without that sickening
feeling in the pit of the stomach when you turn the key and nothing happens but
a little “click” that foretells all kinds of trouble and frustration to come.

Today’s Thought

Simplicity,
most rare in our age.

— Ovid, Ars
Amatoria

Tailpiece

“Dr.
Livingstone, I presume.”

“Yes. Do you
have medical insurance?”

(Drop by every Monday, Wednesday, Friday for another Mainly
about Boats column.)